Gunman, victims ID’d in south-county murder-suicide

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office late Thursday identified a Sunriver-area man who they said fatally shot his son’s girlfriend and wounded his son before killing himself Wednesday morning.

Jeffrey Thunder Ford, 20, told NewsChannel 21 on Thursday that his father, Jeffrey Randle Ford, 56, shot him and his girlfriend, Brandi Schopper, 19, Wednesday morning during a dispute at the home they shared on Mountain Sheep Lane.

The younger Ford said his father knocked down his bedroom door and pointed the gun at him, and that he asked his father: “Are you really going to shoot me?”

Deputies said the gunman’s son called 911 to report that his father had pointed a gun at him. During the call with dispatchers, they said, the father shot the son once in the chest with a 9mm handgun.

The gunman’s son said the bullet missed his heart by two inches.

Investigators said Schopper sustained several gunshot wounds and died at the scene.

The younger Ford was able to flee the home, and a neighbor who heard the dispute came to his aid, said sheriff’s Lt. Chad Davis.

Deputies arrived a short time later and medics flew the 20-year-old by AirLink helicopter to St. Charles Bend, where he underwent surgery and was listed in fair condition Thursday night.

Investigators said the elder Ford shot and killed himself after he shot the two other victims.

Schopper’s mother, Sharlene Pickney, said her daughter moved into the home two weeks ago with her boyfriend.

Pickney wrote a Facebook message, telling NewsChannel 21’s Pedro Quintana that her daughter was terrified of guns “and for her to go this way is not right. She is my beautiful angel.”

The investigation will continue in the coming weeks, Davis said, and further information will be released.

Schopper’s family has set up a Gofund me page for funeral expenses.